One of the main reasons is that I fell in love with an octopus salad served at one of my favorite Greek restaurants not too far from my house. The place is such a popular local haunt as to be somewhat legendary. Anyone who loves Greek food, knows where this place is.
Chris' Taverna is not only known for standing room only style dining, but it never ceases to amaze me just how packed this place can get in it's somewhat quirky location tucked in with an ice cream parlor, a Peruvian restaurant (which I also love!), a local sports bar, a doll shop, a sushi bar, a salon and a surf shop. And that's just to name a few of the bizarre neighbors that surrounds this icon of a restaurant.
It gets so busy that they bust out extra tables and literally line the entire sidewalk between the shops, pulling out the outdoor fans or heaters, which always cracks me up. I mean, come on people... this is FLORIDA? Heaters defy logic, but they light em up in the evenings when the older crowd comes out to dine, I've noticed.
But I digress...
Having stopped in one day after doing a little shopping, I decided to sit and have a beer at their outside dining area and test the Greek waters, so to speak. I order the octopus salad appetizer, some dolmas and a sampling of humus and tzatziki. Jeeze Louise, I was blown away. Never have I had such a tender octopus in all my life, served so regally, so simply. And even more impressive were the near perfect gigantic beefsteak tomatoes they served with it.
Turns out Chris' mama in real life, was my server for the day and has been on a number of occasions since. She asked me how I liked the octopus, looking a little nervous because the look on my face was one of amazement. But she didn't know me quite yet and was probably worried that I didn't like it. She obviously didn't know that I was privately going nuts in my mind over what I was eating!! I tell her in no few words, how I feel about it and ask her in almost a run-on sentence, about the tomatoes as well.
She actually takes a seat next to me and tells me that this dish is one of her favorites and is quite popular. They often sell so much they will occasionally run out. Fascinated, I comment again on the tomatoes and she smiles broadly, telling me quite enthusiastically that they are quite proud and particular of their tomatoes. Turns out, this is no lie and the tomatoes are almost a local legend themselves.
I ask her where she gets them and she tells me precisely how to get there. Locally grown, they get them special from a local farmer and I almost swoon when she tells me I can get them too. Never been more serious about a mission... and I set out almost immediately after finishing my lunch to go get some. And get some I do!
That, my friends... is how it all started. The very next day, I bring Tsunami and repeat the whole ordering scenario, not telling him anything more than this: "Oh my god, I'm so excited for you to try this... you are gonna Fuh-REAK!!" And freak, he did. Freaking fell in love all over the place... It became an instant lunch date kinda spot. And we never skip the appetizers!
But being who we are, we had to try to replicate it at home, of course. As eager to try it as we were, we were still a little gunshy. Neither of us were extremely octopus savvy. I mean, we've done calamari and squid. But octopi? Whole other ball game. Or so we thought.
Standing in front of the seafood counter at my favorite grocery store, Western Beef, I am fixated and spying on an older Italian man who is buying 3 very large octopi for a dinner party. He catches me staring and said, "Go on, buy the last one... I'll tell you what to do." And he smiles at me so encouragingly, I giggled and just said, "OK! Give me the last one."
We stand there talking and sharing tips such a long time that Tsunami walks up and grinning, teases me discreetly, "Are you going home with him? What's going on over here?"
"He's teaching me how to cook octopus!" I excitedly divulge while my new octopus mentor heads off, waving and wishing me good luck. Standing there with a 4 lb octopus in hand my companion needs no further explanation. He just smiles at me and says, "Ok, girlie... Let's do this!"
And off we go.
What you need:
3-4 lb octopus
large pot of water for boiling
aromatics: bay leaf, whole crushed garlic, salt, pepper, lemon slices
Romaine lettuce
Beefsteak tomatoes
Kalamata olives
Finely sliced sweet onions
Olive oil
Fresh lemons
Red wine vinegar
salt, pepper
Prep:
I buy my octopus already cleaned, beak and eyes removed. I also saw a tv show that explained if an octopus has at least two rows of suckers on the tentacles, then it is the right size and age for eating. I don't know why that is but that's my gage when I buy octopus now unless I go for the baby octopus, which is also very good.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil then turn it down to a simmer. Add whatever aromatics you want to the poaching liquid, but just know that these are optional and not required. The point of this poaching step is to allow the octopus meat to tenderize and relax. My Italian mentor told me that the only thing you needed to do was to boil the octopus for 30-45 minutes. No longer than an hour, max. He said after a half hour, you check it. It is done when you can pierce the underbelly and tentacles easily with a paring knife. It should not resist.
If the meat resists, cook another 15 minutes. Almost always this ends up being right about 45 minutes but the last one we just cooked needed a whole hour and it was absolutely perfect.
And don't worry if the octopus tentacles all curl up once in the boiling water. They are supposed to and it means your octopus is cooking correctly.
Remove the octopus from the water, draining it in a colander or on paper towels and allow it to rest and cool to room temperature.
Grill that bad boy:
Next, you grill the octopus! Yep, grill it! But only to get a little grill mark going and to enhance the flavor. Trust me, this part is not optional, however, you can grill over propane, coals, wood or even on a cast iron griddle in the oven. Just don't overcook it. Overcooked octopus becomes tough once again so the idea is to just get a little grill flavor to the party without drying it out again.
Let it rest and cut into chunks to your liking. Yes, the whole thing. Hood and all, just cut it up and put it in a bowl.
Dress it up:
At this point, you can serve it however you like but to replicate the Greek style we love, it requires a simple vinaigrette.
Good quality olive oil
Fresh lemon
Red wine vinegar
salt, pepper to taste
*we add a little garlic because we are garlic lovin' fools
Toss the octopus with olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice, red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Go ahead and make a vinaigrette if you feel better about that, but I just eyeball it and toss the whole bowl.
Serve:
This is typically served with romaine lettuce, finely sliced sweet onions, gorgeous beefsteak tomatoes, Kalamata olives and thinly sliced seedless cucumbers. But truth be told, from here, you can eat it just as it is with the vinaigrette or get a little creative and add it to something else you love.
I'll work on that next because I impressed myself, it was that good. It really was a lovely combination and not at all complicated.
**OR you could serve it with pasta and marinara, couldn't you? Or on a flatbread, huh? Or as an awesome skewer of shishkabob goodness, right?? Or a po' boy? Oh yea, feeling all of that! Go for it. And if you come up with some other crafty clever goodness, do drop me a line and let me in on that, will ya?
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